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ON THE DEATH 






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DELIVERED IN THE 



STONE CHURCH, SUMMERSTREET, 



THE LORD'S DAY AFTER THE INTERMENT 



|l^otf« CKfcorflC €a^^tf 



WHO DIED APRIL 18th, 1823. 



By JOHN T. KIRKLAND, D.D. 



BOSTON: 
WELLS AND LILLY, COURT-STREET. 

1823. 



Sermon 

AT THE NEW SOUTH, 



Wj ^^ 4m^ 



HON. GEORGE CABOT. 



PSALMS XVI. 3. 

THE EXCELLENT, IN IVHOM IS MY DELIGHT. * 

J. HE excellent in material objects is contemplated 
with satisfaction. Order and perfection in inanimate 
things create emotions of pleasure ; and in living, 
conscious, intelligent beings, are viewed with higher 
complacence. The human exterior is susceptible of 
its appropriate excellence. A form displaying sym- 
metry, proportion and elegance j features, air, and 
movement dignified and comely, have an attractive 
power. But whilst a pleasing and commanding per- 
son and outward graces excite interest, it is the ex- 
cellence of mind and character, intellectual and mo- 
ral excellence, which chiefly engages admiration and 
affection. When it is present men take example 
from it, and when it is gone they desire it. 



I 



For although the excellent be our delight, they are 
mortal. Wo desire to retain in life the great and go d, 
Avho are distinguished by talents, accomplishments, 
virtues, usefulness : but the law of nature and the 
order of Providence assign indiscriminately to the 
sons of men a limited period. The unsparing scythe 
of death cuts down alike the fairest and the best, 
and the least valuable and interesting. No superio- 
rity avails to give exemption. A spirit of the high- 
est order and purity, the most active and expanded 
intellect, and the most eminent virtue, have as little 
power against the invasion of disease, and the law 
of dissolution, as the feeblest spark of mind and the 
faintest ray of moral goodness. 

An^ when the excellent die, it is a calamitous in- 
road upon the happiness, the interests, the feelings 
of survivors. Near friends experience the loss of 
their chief earthly blessing. They are deprived of 
the object of unlimited confidence and entire atfec- 
tion ; of a guide and counsellor, who showed the way 
of prudence and of duty ; a companion and associate, 
whose conversation was a fund of instruction and de- 
light ; an assistant of the virtue, a friend of the 
happiness of all, with whom he was connected. He 
is gone the way whence he will not return. The 
grave will not render him back. We suffered much 
in the parting conflict, witnessing bodily pain which 
we could not alleviate, and mental emotions too 
strong and deep to be uttered, the yearning of a heart 
full of tenderness. We are deprived of the benefit 
of accustomed care and kindness. We must bear 



burdens and sorrows alone, which afFectionate parti, 
cipation made hght, and find enjoyments tasteless, 
which derived their relish from the connexion that 
death has severed. The excellent has operated 
around him by the communication of. knowledge, by 
the influence of example and the defence of truth, 
by services affecting the whole public, or particular 
sections, by the discharge of trusts of greater or less 
importance. The community, civil, commercial, lite- 
rary, religious, is sensible of the loss it has sustained. 
It IS truly said, that we do not always properly estimate 

an excellent man, who is daily before our eyes. He 

becomes mingled and confounded with other men. 
His great and superior qualities lose their novelty, 
and we become too familiar with the common mate- 
rials that form the basis of the loftiest character. 
Even the unostentatious simplicity of his charac- 
ter, that charm, which gives the nameless grace to 
real excellence, may cause him to be undervalued by 
coarse minds, who do not know that true worth is 
always void of glare and pretension. Yet it is some- 
times the happiness of those who stand above their 
fellow-men, to join to elevated talents and command- 
ing influence, a dignity and amiableness, which ovei> 
come ill-will, and prevent a disposition to deny or 
dispute their worth, and make at least every good 
man their friend. 

These topics, my hearers, cannot fail to be applied 
by us on the present occasion. One, whom we believe 
and feel to be excellent, has lived among us and is 
gone. A light is quenched in a moment, and a sup^ 



port is removed; a benefactor of his age, of his 
country, and of his race is taken from this scene of 
things. 

We would take a due notice of this bereavement. 
We would lament departed excellence, as becomes 
our principles and our hopes. 

To this end let us think of our consolations and 
our duties. There is a voice of comfort and of instruc- 
tion in the dispensation, which at this time engros- 
ses our thoughts and affects our hearts. 

When death steps into the circle of the family, of 
friendship, of neighbourhood, of civil and religious asso- 
ciation ; and despoils us of the estimable and beloved, 
we are surely permitted to mourn ; but not as those, 
who have no resource, no alleviation for their grief. 
We have strong consolation. We have consolation from 
reason and religion, from the doctrine of a wise and 
benevolent, though often inscrutable Providence ; 
from the belief of a future life, and the faith and 
hope that pertain to us as disciples of Jesus Christ ; 
from a consideration of the design and uses of adver- 
sity, and the salutary influence of sorrow. There is 
consolation to be derived from circumstances peculiar 
to the instance of mortality we deplore. We have 
a great blessing to acknowledge, not less than a sad 
affliction to lament. It is a privilege to have been 
united by nearer or remoter ties with the excellent ; 
to have cause to honour their memory and bewail 
their death. What benefit have you received from 
their wisdom, virtue and piety? The connexion was 
not broken when you first began to partake its ad- 



yantages and delights. It has been prolonged be- 
yond the common lot. To part with one so endear- 
ed does indeed give a pang ; to have had him so long 
is a subject of gratitude to the Author and Preser- 
ver of life. What a sum of good has accrued to 
you and to others from the relation which is now 
dissolved ? How much have you and they been in- 
debted to the life and character of this guide and 
friend, during his sojourn below ? How much do 
you and others owe to the light of his mind, and to 
the effects of his providence and exertions ; how 
much to the attraction of his example, to the spirit 
and charm of his conversation, to the constancy, the 
uniformity, the consistency of his virtues. Seeing that 
he has finished an honourable and beneficent course, 
and sustained the duties and the trials of his earthly 
probation as we should desire, and has gone as we 
believe to rest and reward in another and better life, 
shall we not resign ourselves to God who gives and 
takes away, and be at peace ? 

We feel the affliction of losing the excellent. We 
desire to submit, and we would not reject the conso- 
lations which our merciful Father in heaven permits 
to attend the inflictions of his hand. 

Let us in the next place, ap|)ly ourselves to the 
duties to which we are summoned by the removal of 
important characters from life. The moral Gover- 
nor teaches by his Providence, as well as by his 
word, and events not less than precepts express our 
obligations. 

When the wise and good have finished their course 



below^ we are required to show respect to their me- 
mory, to liold them in due esteem and honour ; to 
guard, excite, and elevate our vn'tues by tlie recol- 
lection of their estimable qualities and actions, and to 
exert ourselves to supply, as far as may be, the loss 
of valuable persons, by increased diligence and fide- 
lity in our respective places. 

It is due to piety, to patriotism, and to friendship, to 
meditate on the character of the distinguished indi- 
vidual with whom we have been accustomed to unite 
in the weekly services of this place, but who is no 
more to partake in the duties of an earthly sanc- 
tuary. 

I shall offer you some imperfect notices of his ta- 
lents, accomplishments, virtues, and usefulness, and 
bring to your minds a few of the counsels of reason 
and religion which the occasion and subject present. 

Can these meditations fail to enliven our good af- 
fections, and to strengthen and direct our honourable 
and virtuous aims ? 

" There is no doubt a great native difference in 
those original principles, which are to be unfolded 
by the progress of time into intellectual powers and 
moral dispositions." 

Mr. Cabot was endowed by nature with uncom- 
mon powers of mind. His contemporaries, from 
boyhood, evinced that they felt the ascendancy of 
his talents. He was distinguished by the clearness 
and justness of his conceptions ; the soundness of his 
judgment, and the strength of his reasoning. He 
joined, however, to these peculiar gifts, a more than 



19 

ordinary measure of the other intellectual faculties, 
a rctendve meiiiorj, a lively but regulated imagina- 
tion, a delicate and correct taste, and a keen and po- 
lished wit. His original organization was marked by- 
great sensibility. 

For the development of his mind, he was doubt- 
less much indebted to the impressions received and 
the habits formed under the paternal roof, during 
childhood and early youth. He owed something 
also to his opportunities, and to his proficiency at the 
best seminaries of the time, v^'here he made acquisi- 
tions, which, though of partial extent, as he entered 
upon active pureuits while very youno-, were yet 
a valuable preparative for his private studies. But 
what was done for him by others to produce and ma- 
ture his abilities, was of small moment compared to 
what he did for himself. 

Before he reached the manly age, we find him 
exhibiting manly qualities, joining to the ardour and 
vivacity of youth, the reflection and forecast and 
self-command, that would do honour to mature years. 

He early formed habits of mental activity, and ac- 
customed himself to inquiry, to reading and thought. 
He united speculation with a strong turn for a spirit of 
observation, and a careful attention to facts and expe- 
rience. He examined freely the foundations of re- 
ceived opinions, without any disposition to extremes ; 
and without overlooking the essential principles of 
human nature, and the basis of truth often concealed 
under a superstructure of error. 

Although for a great portion of his life engaged 



10 

in business, at sea or on shore, he found time fo cul- 
tivate letters, to be conversant with books, and in- 
dulo-e that love of readino^, which continued without 
intermission to the end of his days. 

Without the stlmuhis of professional necessity? 
from a taste for intellectual enjoyment, and the inter- 
nal spring of his mental frame, he was constantly en- 
larging his knowledge and improving his powers. 

His mind was at once comprehensive and discrimi- 
nating ; full, yet accurate. He wa^ sagacious and acute 
in disentangling involved and difficult subjects, know- 
ing how to separate appearances from realities; 
to distinguish the probable, the true, the practical. 
The materials that constituted his intellectual store, 
lay in his mind in a methodical arrangement, ready 
to be applied to their proper uses, for argument, per- 
suasion, colloquial communication, or the conduct of 
life. 

Mr. Cabot at different times cultivated acquain- 
tance with natural science, and the laws of the phy- 
sical world. His favourite subjects were moral and 
political philosophy ; human nature, its faculties, pow- 
ers, and sources of enjoyment and excellence. He 
bent his attention to works, treatises, and questions 
relating to the foundation of morals, the good and 
evil of which man is susceptible, especially as a mem- 
ber of political society : what is to be done by civil 
regulation, and what left to individual skill and enter- 
prize. The principles of legislation and commerce, and 
the means of improving and perfecting the relations 
proceeding from human association, engaged his sedu- 



11 

ious inquiries, and became familiar to his mind. He 
studied the interesting periods of civil history, ancient 
and modern. He analysed the g-overnments, and in- 
vestigated the character, manners and progress of 
nations. He had a discriminating and lively percep- 
tion of the excellent in nature and art, in works of 
sentiment and elegant literature, and generally in the 
productions of genius and taste. The principles of 
Religion, what we should think and believe of our 
relation to the Supreme Being, and a future life, were 
subjects of his habitual inquiry and meditation. He 
availed himself of all means for judging of the evi- 
dences, the history, the doctrines and purpose and 
characteristics of the Christian system. 

These resources and acquirements were not hoard- 
ed by the possessor as a useless treasure and selfish 
luxury. He was communicative of his mind ; and 
■with what skill, felicity and effect, they are witnes- 
ses, who heard him in public speaking, in the discus- 
sion of topics incident to the transaction of various 
concerns, and especially in the freedom of private 
conversation. It may be said of him, as of the 
Roman orator, that none ever left his presence WMth- 
out hearingsomething worthy to be remembered and 
not easily forgotten. The lucid order, the justness 
and pertinence of thought, the clearness and strength 
of argumentation, the appropriateness, the simplicity, 
the vivacity of diction, the aptness of illustration, 
•which characterized his discourse, made him in a sin- 
gular degree instructive and entertaining; sure always 



12 

to Inform and interest, and often able to overcome 
prejudice, and convince and persuade his hearer. 

Whilst we pay our tribute of respect to the ta- 
lents of our admired friend, we have a fund of im- 
proving contemplation in the moral excellence, that 
marked and adorned his character. We could not 
but perceive how he considered the moral nature of 
man as the basis of true dignity, the clucf seat and 
spring of his happiness. He was a disciple of that phi- 
losophy, which counsels us to substitute the enthusi- 
asm of virtue for that of the passions. His aim was 
rectitude, yea perfection, doing always the best which 
the occasion and means permitted ; and having this 
elevated standard, he attained to uncommon profi- 
ciency in moral wisdom and goodness. 

The enumeration of the principal virtues, consi- 
dered in their relation to ourselves, our fellow-men, 
and the Deity, is a delineation of the character of 
our venerated friend. He Avas distinguished by 
prudence, which seeks lawful advantages by right 
and appropriate means ; by contentment, which ac- 
quiesces in a moderate portion of good, is reasonable 
in wishes and expectation, and keeps at a distance 
from selfish repining; though not without keen sensi- 
bility, and a constitutional pre-disposition to anxie- 
ty ; by fortitude, a spirit collected and resolute in dif- 
ficulties and dangers, and evincing always an entire 
superiority to fear ; by patience, bearing trials with 
an equal mind, and especially showing exemplary 
composure in bodily sufferings ; and by modesty, refus- 
ing to make pretensions, and display superiority ; whilst 



13 

estimating highly the value of opinion, paying a de- 
licate respect to the impressions of other minds, 
and pleased with the favourable judgment of his 
fellovvmen. He exhibited the spirit of application 
and industry ; executing seasonably and thoroughly 
what he undertook ; and though less willing than 
was desired, to assume responsible employments, he 
was far removed from any thing like indolence. 
He maintained a wise and careful self-oovernment. 
disdaining the bondage of sense; in pleasures, re- 
garding the boundaries prescribed by nature, by 
health and by duty. He saw the value of the gol- 
den mean in conduct, and cultivated the moderation 
which prevents virtue from degenerating into vice, 
by irregularity and excess, and which, in relation to 
distmction and place, rather avoids than courts pre- 
eminence. 

The social virtues, the kind affections, placed Mr. 
Cabot among the most amiable, as well as estimable 
of men. Who ever disputed his justice in transac- 
tions between man and man, his respect to the rights 
of others, his observance of truth, his fidelity in every 
trust? How careful was he to mingle gentleness 
with authority, and in the use of power and influence, 
to show himself considerate of our common nature? 

Not merely the several parts of a right and equit- 
able conduct were scrupulously observed by him, he 
Avon the hearts, he ministered to the improvement 
and happiness of those Avith whom he was connected, 
by all the acts and expressions of benevolence ; by 
a temper most bland, affectionate and generous. In 



14 

the near relations of life, and in the circle of par- 
ticular friends, he was devoted, cordial, sincere, rea- 
dy to sympathetic joy and tender compassion, mak- 
inof their interests and feelings his own. In o-encral 
intercourse, he was a conspicuous instance of dignifi- 
ed courtesy, of affability of conversation, of gentle- 
ness to the faults and condescension to the weaknes- 
ses of men, united with depth of principle, and entire 
independence and frankness. He carried with hira 
a discretion and urbanity, which prevented offensive 
inadvertencies, and dictated a deference to the rights, 
and a consideration of the wishes and expectations 
of men in society. What a care did he show to be 
equitable and candid in his judgment of men, whilst 
he estimated their characters with exact discrimina- 
tion. How did he delight in Avhat was done well 
by others, and how pleased was he to find cause for 
commendation? Whilst he was prompt to offices of 
kindness to individuals, he embraced opportunities of 
wider usefulness by co-operating in good institutions, 
selecting from the various calls of this kind, such as 
he most approved. His feeling of citizenship and of 
patriotism was deep and powerful, producing habi- 
tual solicitude upon all subjects connected with the 
safety, interest and honour of his country. 

He took a lively interest in the state of the world. 
He was not an unmoved spectator of events affecting 
the condition and prospects of the family of man- 
kind. He attended to the causes, the progress, the 
actual and probable results of the political revolu- 
tions of modern times, with animated interest. 



15 

Religion presented itself to Mr. Cabot's mind as 
an august and affecting subject. He viewed the great 
fundamental principles of religion as entirely adapted 
to the nature and state of man, the surest basis of 
morals, and the chief source of consolation. Chris- 
tianity appeared to him as true and excellent, the 
guide of faith and practice, and the foundation of 
hope, and eminently a moral system. 

He honoured and supported the institutions of reli- 
gion ; believing the duty of Christian temples to be the 
command of the Deity, the dictate of reason and 
the call of nature, a means of improvement and of 
comfort, a friend to the dignity of human beings, to 
the melioration of the social character, the bles- 
sing of individuals and of families, as well as condu- 
cive to the welfare of the community, to the glory 
of the Creator, and the salvation of souls. How 
much he concerned himself in these services, and de- 
sired they might be efficacious, is known to you with 
whom he Avalked to the house of God, and the 
Christian ordinances, in company ; you, who perceived 
with what attention, candour and patience, he heard 
the word, and with what reverence and feeling- 
he joined in acts of devotion : and who experienced 
his counsel and assistance in all the affairs relating to 
your religious society. For his pastors, those who have 
gone to rest, and those who survive,let me speak of 
his faithful friendship to them, the affectionate interest 
he took in their usefulness, reputation and comfort ; 
ever forward to strengthen their hands and encou- 
rage their hearts. 



16 

The talents and excellencies, Avhich Ave have 
described, were exercised and displayed by Mr. 
Cabot, principally in the relations of private life ; hrst 
in the pursuit of his vocation, when at the early age of 
fifteen deprived of his father, by death, he left aca- 
demic life; and entered upon the sea and mercantile 
employments, in which he Avas distinguished by skill, 
activity and enterprize, and while a youth, acted the 
man. They Avere displayed in an extensive circle of 
friends and acquaintances ; in the part he took in se- 
veral important institutions ; the duties he discharged, 
and the offices he filled, connected with commerce ; 
and occasionally in public political stations ; soon after 
in the State constitution, in the senate of the Com- 
moiiAvealth, but to which he declined a re-election ; 
in the Convention for framing the constitution of the 
State, and for ratifying that of the United States ; 
in the Senate of the United States, for a fcAV years, 
Avhere he Avas the friend of Washington, and of 
Washington's friends, during the most critical period 
of his presidency ; and at a recent period, Avhen in 
the late war, the exigencies of the country seemed 
to Mr. Cabot to require his co-operation, he pre- 
sided over a body designated from New England, in 
a season of extreme solicitude, to attempt means for 
averting a dreadful storm of public calamity. 

The occasional duties of this nature which he un- 
dertook, he discharged Avith signal ability as Avell as 
faithfulness. He was often desired for public employ- 
ment, but he thought himself at liberty to follow his 
inclination, and be for the most part a private citizen. 



17 

He would not come within the circle of ambition. It. 
was one cause of his rejecting the calls to place, that 
his delicate temperament could ill bear the collisions, 
contests and anxieties incident to public life. But al- 
though for most of his time a private character, he 
operated extensively upon the community, by the ef- 
fect of his opinions, his counsels and his example. 
He was much consulted upon great public questions. 
His advice was asked in affairs of consequence, more 
frequently than almost ever happens to any individu- 
al, and it was given with the same seriousness with 
which it was asked. 

A kind Providence, with a measure of disappoint- 
ment and affliction, assigned him a large portion of 
the chief blessings of existence ; health, easy circum- 
stances, favour and consideration with mankind, do- 
mestic endearment and happiness, with all the satis- 
faction inseparable from his disposition and character, 
his constant use and exercise of his mind, and his 
social temper, his belief in the wisdom and rectitude 
of the divine administration, his conscientious endea- 
vour to excel in virtue, and his hope and expectation 
of a better life. 

Within two years of his death, he was subject to 
the attacks of the disease, Avhich in the few last 
months, became very much aggravated, and was at- 
tended with paroxysms of extreme pain, till it destroy- 
ed the springs of life. Without complaint, with as 
few external indications of suffering as possible, with 
a peculiar sweetness, and the overflowings of affec- 
tion to the devoted friends, who ministered at his 
3 



18 

sick and dying bed; with entire resignation to the 
will of God, he saw the advancing step, and sunk 
into the arms of death. 

What man is he that liveth and shall not see death? 

Whilst I we regard the call to cherish the memo- 
ry and honour the character of the estimable who 
have ceased to live, let us take other lessons of wis- 
dom and piety from their departure. 

We are instructed to moderate our earthly attach- 
ments, and to repress our passions. The night will soon 
overtake us by age, disease or casualty. We will not 
indulge the expectation of any lasting good in this 
fugitive state. We perceive the uncertainty of our 
enjoyments, the frailty of our hopes. Were our 
condition less precarious and mutable, mortality re- 
minds us that our lives may fail, and that those on 
whom our chief happiness here depends, may also fail. 

Let the consideration of the few and evil days of 
our pilgrimage exert a kindly influence upon our so- 
cial intercourse and relations. Let it compose ani- 
mosities, and promote aflfection and fellow-feeling. 
We Avill not by unkindness or neglect, mingle unne- 
cessary bitterness in the cup, which Providence has 
ordained shall have enough of sorrow. 

The Supreme Disposer calls into exercise at 
once our gratitude and our submission, when he dis- 
plays his liberality in forming here and there a limit- 
ed number, to impart wisdom and virtue to many ; 
and his dominion over the noblest as well as the 
humblest of his works, by removing those, who have 
been instruments of his benign purposes, and supply- 
ing their places by others. 



19 

The death of those, who have performed an im- 
portant part in the community, should enHven the di- 
ligence of all in their respective stations and charac- 
ters, and engage them to such conduct as may miti- 
gate the evil we have suffered, in the removal of the 
eminent. 

It is the part of generous youth, to be emulous of 
equalling, nay, of surpassing,distinguished predecessors. 
The welfare of the commuaity, civil and religious, 
social order and the happiness of private life, not less 
than your individual well-being, are involved in the 
course you take. Let not any of you, capable of high 
improvement, be willing to act an inferior part. Aspire 
to an extended and honourable reputation, and la- 
bour to be acknowledged as benefactors to your race. 
Follow the footsteps of the great and good. Aim at 
a finished character ; deeming that nothing is done? 
■while any thing remains to be done, for attaining in- 
tellectual and moral excellence ; and expect a large 
reward. 

We learn the infinite value of that religion, which 
gives us a remedy for the evils of death and the 
sorrows of life, teaches us to join the future with the 
present, and to look for a revived or continued exis- 
tence, when the body has ceased to live. 

Let us seek, above all things, the character which 
this faith requires, and to this end be followers of the 
good who have gone before us. Have Ave observed 
the elevation of their views, the strength of their 
principles, the usefulness of their lives ? Have we 



20 



seen them consistent and sincere in the various parts 
of behaviour, partaking the consolations whilst ful- 
filhng the duties of religion, and experiencing the se- 
renity it is fitted to impart, when most necessary, 
when nature is sinking, and all other resources fail ? Do 
we honour and cherish the memory, and lament the 
loss of such persons? Let us seek to live and die by the 
same principles and hopes, and be prepared to unite 
with all the holy and virtuous in one glorious and 
happy society in heaven. 



Died in this city, on Friday the 18th, the Hon. George 
Cabot, in the 72cl year of his age. In the death of Mr. 
Cabot, the public have sustained a loss which will not soon 
be repaired ; his connexions and friends one, which can 
never be supplied. If we should be influenced by a recol- 
lection of his modesty and his aversion to public display ; if 
we should obey what we know would have been his injunc- 
tions, we should refrain from any notice of his character. 
But it is an occasion, in which public feeling must have ut- 
terance ; and it seems better that this notice should come 
from one, who has known him long and intimately, than 
from those, who are more able, but who have had less op- 
portunity to know, that his talents seemed the most extraordi- 
nary, his virtues the most bright, to those who had the hap- 
piness to see him most familiarly. His character is a public 
property ; to perpetuate its influence is a public duty ; and 
in such a case all private considerations must yield. 

Mr. Cabot's mind was distinguished by the capacity of 
investigating profoundly the most difficult subjects, of em- 
bracing the fundamental principles, and at the same time, 
all the details of the subjects he investigated ; and of form- 
ing respecting them the most simple and the most grand 
conceptions. He was possessed at the same time of an elo- 



22 

quence, which was displayed not so much in public debate^ 
as in private conversations : — an eloquence which charmed 
at once by its beauty and its simplicity, and which brought 
within the comprehension of common minds, the principles 
which his deep investigations had developed. He had an 
ardent and constant thirst for knowledge, which was evinced 
not so much in great enterprises for the attainment of it, as 
in his exact observation and skilful analysis of all the ob- 
jects about him. His industry and his powers of applica- 
tion fitted him for the pursuit of every species of know- 
ledge : his choice of objects was determined not by his 
powers, but by his feelings. — Sensible to all the beauaes of 
nature, and an admirer of all the works of creation, his be- 
nevolence, his true philanthropy, fixed his attention most 
strongly on whatever appertained to the cause of humanity 
and the welfare of society. — Hence, his mind was devoted 
to the study of political economy and the science of go- 
vernment. In regard to these subjects, it may be said most 
truly, his eye was single; he had no personal objects to 
warp his judgment ; and he was thus enabled to see instant- 
ly and to point out clearly, every deviation from the path of 
political wisdom, which was occasioned by political ambi- 
tion, and which political sophistry attempted to hide or to 
excuse. — Practically wise, he would not be strenuous in 
small things ; — elevated and pure, he could never consent 
to attain his purpose by what was base or false. 

Engrossed as was Mr. Cabot's mind by public affairs 
during many years — years most memorable in the history 
of our nation and of mankind, his feelings were never ab- 
sorbed in the great things of this world. Full, too full of the 
most genuine sensibility, he more than satisfied all the claims 
of friends and kindred. His knowledge, his powers to de- 
light and to serve, his means, and his labours were most 
cheerfully employed, even for those who could not make 



23 

claims upon him. But in the circle of his more intimate 
friends, in the intercourse of domestic life — if not forbidden 
to intrude on the sacred privacy of such topics at this mo- 
ment — who would dare attempt to describe the fulness, the 
constancy, the depth, the delicacy of the feelings and atiec- 
lions which he displayed ? The delight of all around, his 
task might seem easy to the young and the thoughtless. It 
was easy to appear good and pure, for to this end he had only 
to expose his whole heart without disguise. But how could 
it be easy to remember the circumstances and feelings of 
every one who approached him, and to strengthen the good 
feelings of every one by his sympathy — to control and cor- 
rect what was bad, so that men seemed to wash away their 
impurities in their intercourse with him — to feel the joy and 
participate in the grief of all with whom he was conver- 
sant ; how could all this be easy, except to a man of most 
extraordinary talents and virtues ? This was the great 
charm about him — that while he made men wiser, he made 
them better ; and if in all that he did there seemed to be no 
labour, it was, that the strength, with which he grasped 
every subject, was accompanied by a grace and a sweet- 
ness of discourse, by which the effort was hidden. 

Mr. Cabot devoted the early period of his life to com- 
merce. For many years he encountered the dangers of the 
sea, as a shipmaster. He was one of that class of citizens, 
w^ho had contributed so much to the prosperity of the Unit- 
ed States, and Avho gave occasion to the splendid encomium 
of Burke on the enterprise and intelligence of the naviga- 
tors of New England. But even amidst the difficulties and 
dangers of a seafaring life, he did not neglect the cultiv^ation 
of his mind. That mind was too deep, and contemplative, 
and sound, and clear, to be checked by any obstacles ; or 
rather it found food in every thing, and was strengthened 
by every exercise in which it was engaged. His early 



24 

visits to foreign countries were means of his education. 
What he saw, he perceived with the eye of a philosophical 
statesman. He came home from every voyage improved 
and enlightened with large and comprehensive views of 
human nature and of human society. Before he was twen- 
ty six years' of age, he was chosen to the Provincial Con- 
gress, which met at Concord with the visionary project of 
ordaining a maximum of prices — at a time, when our com- 
merce being cut off, men foolishly hoped that they could 
cheapen commodities, by forcing the holders to sell at re- 
duced and fixed rates. Good sense triumphed over folly, 
and Mr. Cabot there first displayed that profound acquain- 
tance with the correct principles of political economy, for 
which he was, above all the men in our nation, throughout 
his life, most remarkable. It is well known to his friends, 
that even before Adam Smith was known in this country, 
and twenty years before Say and the continental writers 
had formed any correct notions on the subject, Mr. Cabot 
maintained the present prevailing and enlightened doctrines, 
and strenuously contended for the entire liberty of domes- 
tic and international commerce. 

In the State Convention, which was called to deliberate 
on the adoption of the Federal Constitution, Mr. Cabot was 
a most influential member. How important the decision of 
that Convention was, is now well known. In that Convention 
he was associated with King, and Ames, and Parsons, in 
maintaining and securing the dearest interests of the 
country. 

Shortly after the adoption of that Constitution, he was in- 
duced by a sense of public duty, and against his inclina- 
tion, to accept the otfice of Senator of the United States. 
In that office he not only possessed the confidence of the 
Senate — but he was one of the most confidential friends of 
Washington and of Hamilton, then the eye and the ear of this 



25 

nation. If there "be any merit in our financial system report- 
ed by Hamilton, and preserved through all the changes of 
parties, Mr. Cabot is entitled to a large share of that merit; 
for upon his commercial knowledge and profound views, 
not only of finance, but of political economy, Gen. Hamil- 
ton reposed the most unlimited confidence. The friendship 
and mutual confidence of these two distinguished statesmen 
continued till the premature and lamented death of Hamil- 
ton. 

Nor was the intimacy and affection between Mi\ Cabot 
and Mr. Ames less close. They were like brothers — one 
in feeling, principle, purity, and patriotism. The day has 
gone by, never to return, in which the delicacy, genius, in- 
dependence, public services of Ames can be called in ques- 
tion. 

Mr. Cabot was, in short, for forty years, the Nestor, the 
wise, cool, considerate Counsellor of most of the intel- 
ligent Statesmen on the Federal side in our state and na- 
tional Governments. Asking nothing for himself, hoping, 
wishing nothing for his friends, with a mind capable of 
comprehending the most abstruse points or questions, and 
ready to discuss the most simple — without parade — without 
assumption, applying the powers of a most persuasive elo- 
quence, in the most finished and correct language, pouring 
forth the stores of a mind, enriched by various literature 
and research, he never failed to convince, or inform, or 
persuade. The great characteristics of his mind, in which 
friends and foes (if he had any) would agree, were sim- 
plicity and profoundness. It is impossible to calculate 
how great and how extensive were the effects of such a 
mind on the happiness and welfare of a state. We can 
only know it by our loss. 

Perhaps we ought here to finish this simple, but correct 
portrait of this lamented individual. But can we do it con- 
scientiously ? Can we satisfy those numerous friends. 



26 

Whom he has comforted in sorrow, relieved hy his wise 
counsels and advice from mental distress, in circumstances 
embarrassing and apparently irremediable? To whom 
he has devoted, even amidst corporal anguish, so much of 
his time, and his healing and persuasive eloquence? Who 
is there, who had any, even the most remote, claims, that 
did not find him at all moments, in sickness and in health, 
a steady, wise, considerate, judicious, feeling counsellor and 
friend ? What man ever possessed or enjoyed out of the 
sphere of public life so much personal respect and confi- 
dence ? Who can say among those to whom he was known, 
that he would not have relied on his integrity and justice, 
if his whole fortune was at stake ? Who will say, that 
when his own mind was in doubt, he did not feel an entire 
confidence in the clear, impartial judgment and discretion 
of George Cabot? No — Such men are seldom permitted 
to exist, by the decrees of the Almighty Governor of the 
world, — but when they are sent among us, they should en- 
kindle our zeal for virtue — for self devotion — for the dis- 
play of our talents for the public good, and for the happi- 
ness of all around us. We should not be deterred by the 
hopelessness of equalling him. 

Mr. Cabot was a sincere and devout Christian, and died 
in the hopes which that religion offers. He was a member 
of the Church under the care successively of Kirkland, 
Thacher, and Greenwood. His life is the best proof of his 
pious feelings and religious principles. 

The last sickness of this most excellent man was long 
continued, painful and distressing. This he bore with the 
patience and fortitude, which would have been expected 
by all who knew him ; and to the last moments, in which 
his mind retained its powers, he continued to manifest the 
most entire submission to the divine will, and the most per- 
fect confidence in the divine goodness. 

Boston Daily Advertiser^ April 22, 1823. 



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